Page 22 of All That We Are Together

“I didn’t want to hear about it.”

“Well, that’s…promising.”

She didn’t smile. Not even a bit. I shouldn’t have expected her to. I suppressed a sigh and opened the folder I’d left on one end of the table. I slid a copy toward her and took mine. She knitted her brows as she read. She hadn’t touched her juice. I tried to stop looking at her like a stupid child and concentrated on stirring my coffee.

“Is there anything you’d like to know more about?” I asked.

“Yeah, I want you to explain the whole thing to me. No surprises.”

“You used to like surprises.”

Her eyes drilled into mine. I’d fucked up when I said that, but I sure missed the feeling that awakened in me when I saw her face.

“Axel, don’t waste my time.”

“Fine. Here’s what you need to know.”

26

Leah

I wanted to get up and run out.

My entire body asked me to: my racing heart, my nervous stomach, my sweaty palms, and above all, my instinct. That feeling that seems to ignore reason and simply guides us when it needs to.

Axel was the same as always. His hair, just a bit longer than usual, brushing his ears; his blue eyes that called to mind the depths of the sea; his skin toasted by the sun; lips full, jaw square. I realized he’d shaved before coming; he had a few little cuts on his cheek; he was never very attentive with a razor. I saw his hand resting over the contract: masculine, with long fingers, short nails, a couple of hangnails.

It was as if I needed to memorize each detail again, all those little things you forget with the passage of time: the tiny scar over his left eyebrow that he’d gotten when he was sixteen and had hit his head on the edge of his surfboard, the eternally unbuttoned top buttons on his shirt, the curve of his lips…

“With the gallery representing you, you’ll have ten piecesminimum in our catalog. Not just the same ones: the idea is to change them out frequently. We’ll be sure you attend art fairs and exhibitions. The profits are split fifty-fifty.”

“I don’t think that’s fair.”

“Sorry?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I won’t take less than sixty percent.”

Axel seemed surprised, but then I saw him purse his lips to keep from smiling.

“Fine. Sixty. But remember, the gallery’s investing in you; we take care of transportation, which isn’t nothing, plus we advise you and get your name out, among other things.”

I was wringing my fingers under the table, I was trembling, but I didn’t let Axel see it. A small part of me had thought he wouldn’t give in so easily to my objections. Maybe if he hadn’t, we would have struggled to reach an agreement, and I would feel less like a coward for not sticking to my guns.

I tried to keep calm. “You’re going to handle all that?”

“Yeah.”

“There’s not someone else who can do it?”

He looked at me strangely. “Am I that horrible to you?”

I blinked, a bit thrown by the sound of his husky voice.How should I respond?Yeah, it was horrible to think of all the time we’d have to spend together; it hurt me to look at him; I missed what we had before I ever stepped foot in his house and my universe changed forever. And it made me sad to think we could never get any of that back.

“What else will you do?” I ducked the question.

“I’ll evaluate your work. It’s complicated, but we need toprice everything. We’ll study each piece before we decide how to sell you.”

“How long does the contract last?”